Liberty edges GWU in physical semifinal duel, 65-62

CONWAY, S.C. – It was the kind of white-knuckle, down-to-the wire street-fight of a basketball game that Gardner-Webb has been a part of so many times the past two season.

Saturday’s Big South Conference semifinal against Liberty at HTC Center wasn’t for the meek. There were players hitting the deck, contact on almost every shot and block-charge calls to exasperate both benches.

In the end, Liberty’s size advantage won out as the Flames knocked off the Runnin’ Bulldogs, 65-62, putting an end to GWU’s title chances and hopes for a school-first NCAA Men’s Tournament bid.

GWU (21-12) found itself trailing throughout the contest but pulled even on Tyler Strange’s three-pointer with 3:17 left. But Liberty – which got all but two its points in the final eight minutes at the foul line – made enough to hold off the ‘Dogs.

It was Davon Marshall that sank two with 14.1 seconds left – after another of those block-charge whistles -- to give Liberty its three-point edge and two GWU attempts from long range were off line in the final five seconds.

“Some of those (free-throw chances) were in our control,” said Gardner-Webb coach Chris Holtmann. “They got to the line and that was big key. So much of our preparation was about keeping their best shooters off the line.

“I’ll have to go back and look at the tape at some of those 50-50 calls. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t, and that’s why they are 50-50.”

Liberty’s size – they rotated four guys 6-8 or bigger in their two post positions – gave GWU trouble throughout. Bulldog senior Kevin Hartley – who along with Jerome Hill played 35 minutes battling the Flames’ giants – said it was a difficult task.

“It is tough, they’re a big team and they’re banging down low (in the paint) and getting a lot of rebounds,” said Hartley, who had 10 points on the day. “But we played them as hard as we could.”

“It was an extremely hard-fought game,” said Liberty coach Dale Layer, whose squad meets Charleston Southern today at noon for the crown. “I have the upmost respect for Gardner-Webb. They’ve over-achieved all year.”

Inside the Game

May not be done: Even though the NCAA and NIT are not in the plans, Gardner-Webb with its 21 wins may receive an offer in the coming week to play in one of the two other college basketball postseason events out there – the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) or College Insiders Tournament (CIT).

Page 2 of 2 - Not ruffled: GWU didn’t get down mentally despite a number of missed layups in the first half.

“We just wanted to stay with it, when you’re getting high quality shots,” said GWU coach Chris Holtmann. “We did miss a couple of layups. We knew their size was the best in the league and their zone with those (6-9) guys in there was a factor.”

From the bench: With Donta Harper out of the game with his fourth fouls early in the second half, GWU brought in Max Landis for a three-guard lineup. Landis gave the ‘Dogs 15 points.

“We’ve had so many games we’re we’ve got multiple contributions from our bench,” said Holtmann. “He came in and hit a couple of big shots and found some seams and drove in and attacked their zone.”